Crank Palace
by You're The Doctor Harry
Summary: What happens between to Newt after leaving the Crank Palace and before page 250?


(A/N: Hey guys! So here is another Maze Runner Fanfic! This one will be very different from 12 days of Minewt, but Minho and Newt will still be together. I really hope you like the new character, since this idea has been swirling around in my head for a while. There could be a part 2 to this, so let me know if you want one!)

 _ **EVERYTHING BELONGS TO THE WONDERFUL JAMES DASHNER AND I OWN NOTHING EXCEPT THE BAG OF CHIPS NEXT TO ME. ALMOST EVERYTHING IN ITALICS IS FROM THE DEATH CURE CHAPTER 38 and 39**_

I heard some guard call my name from across the Crank Palace. _How the bloody hell do they know my name?_ I thought. I hadn't told my name to anyone here, just in case WICKED was coming back to get me. Out of curiosity, I lifted my head to respond. The guard came over to me. It was the same guard that had made me angry and made me steal a launcher. The one with the moustache. "Some guys and a girl came to see you. Said their names were Jorge, Brenda, Thomas, and Minho. They wanna come get you," he said. My mind was racing. They had come to get me, to take me out of this prison. More importantly, Minho had come to get me. Minho, the one who had loved me through the Maze and the Scorch. And I loved him right back. I wanted them to come get me so I could get out of here. Then I remembered the note I had given to Tommy. He was going to kill me, wasn't he? He was going to kill me in front of Minho. I didn't think I could handle that. "Tell them to get lost," I told the guard. He just shrugged and walked away. I sat down on the floor and tried not to cry. It didn't work.

I saw Tommy coming over with Minho, Brenda, and Jorge. " _I told you bloody shanks to get lost!"_ I said. I saw Minho stop and Tommy almost run into him. " _We need to talk to you," Minho said, stepping closer to me._ Minho coming over would mean Tommy would follow, meaning that I would die in front of Minho. That couldn't happen. " _Don't come any closer,"_ I said as menacingly as possible. I did not want them to come near me. This was it for me, and I didn't want to hurt Minho more than I already had. " _Those thugs brought me here for a reason. They thought I was a bloody Immune holed up in that shuck Berg. Imagine their surprise when they could tell I had the Flare eating my brain. Said they were doing their civic duty when they dumped me in this rat hole."_ Minho didn't reply. Good for him. Tommy, however, did. " _Why do you think we're here, Newt?"_ Um to kill me maybe? I thought. Like I asked? " _I'm sorry they brought you here. But we can break you out- it doesn't look like anyone gives a klunk who comes and goes."_ He continued. He was such a shucking idiot. Didn't he read the bloody note? Couldn't he do one thing just for me? Just once?

I turned around to face them, clutching my launcher. " _Woah there," Minho said, taking a half step back. "Slim it nice and calm. There's no need to point a shuck Launcher at my face while we talk. Where did you get that thing anyway?"_ He asked. I wanted to hug him. I wanted to run into his arms, hug him, and kiss him like there was no tomorrow, which for me, there might not be. That's not what happened. " _I stole it. Took it from a guard who made me… unhappy."_ I thought about taking the Launcher. He had been so cruel, the guard had been shooting people for fun. Plus, the Flare had already been making me angry that day. He deserved it.

My hands were shaking around the trigger of the Launcher, but I didn't mean them to. I never wanted to hurt any of them, especially not Minho. But I had failed at that, just like I failed at everything else. " _I'm… not well. Honestly, I appreciate you buggin' shanks coming for me. I mean it,"_ and I did. I truly did. But I couldn't hurt them any more. " _But this is where it bloody ends. This is where you turn around and walk back out that door and head for your Berg and fly away. Do you understand me?"_ I asked. I wanted them to leave, so I didn't have to worry about hurting any of them. This was for their own safety. Then Minho spoke up, and he sounded angry. I hated seeing Minho angry. _No, Newt, I don't understand. We risked our necks to come to this place and you're our friend and we're taking you home. You wanna whine and cry while you go crazy, that's fine. But you're gonna do it with us, not with these shuck Cranks."_ Maybe if he had said I love you, or something about us being together, I would have gone. I know why he didn't, Tommy and Jorge and Brenda were there and it had been our little secret. But I wasn't thinking clearly so I pointed that stupid shucking launcher at him and said, " _I am a Crank, Minho! I am a crank! Why can't you get it through your bloody head? If you had the Flare and knew what you were about to go through, would you want your friends to stand around and watch? Huh? Would you want that?"_ By then I was yelling. I didn't mean any of it, but my brain was sick and damaged, just like my leg. Why couldn't he just realize that I was a Crank? Why? I remembered how Tommy ignored my note. " _And YOU Tommy,"_ I said in a whisper, " _You've got a lot of nerve coming here to ask me to leave with you. A lot of bloody nerve. The sight of you makes me sick!"_ No, I didn't mean it. But he had ignored my note. He had ignored my one request to be happy again. I wanted to die.

Thomas started asking me why, and I think the pain in his voice made me come to my senses. Maybe he hadn't read the note yet. I had to start begging them to leave. I told them about breaking out and going to Denver. " _It's gonna be hard enough for me now, and it'll make it worse if I know you have to witness it. Or worst of all, if I hurt you,"_ That was my biggest fear, hurting any of them. I just couldn't do it. " _So let's say our bloody goodbyes and then you can promise to remember me from the good old days."_ I said. " _I can't do that," Minho said._ I understood, I could hardly do this either, but I had to make him leave. " _Shuck it! Do you have any clue how hard it is to be calm right now? I said my piece and I'm done. Now get out of here! Do you understand me? Get out of here!"_ I yelled. I couldn't do this anymore. If they didn't leave, I would break down into Minho's arms and start crying. Or worse, I would give in and go with them, making me a threat to them. Some idiot came over to try and defend me. I wanted to sack him in the stomach. He had already been bugging me since I got here. I hated his guts. Thankfully, Minho hit the guy for me, but I had to make him stop. I shot the guy, and then my stupid brain told me to point the Launcher at Minho. Minho, my lover, the one who actually gave a bloody klunk about me. " _You're going to shoot me? Old pal?" Minho said._ Baby? He mouthed. I couldn't take it. " _Go. I asked nicely. Now I'm telling. This is hard enough. Go."_ He tried to get me to come outside. And I wanted to, God, I wanted to. Instead I just insisted that they leave. Tommy saved me by telling them all to leave. Minho looked at Tommy like his heart was breaking. " _You can't be serious?"_ he asked. I knew that shank would have stayed with me and held me until I died or killed him. Part of me wanted him to. " _How did the world get so shucked?" He asked._ I had to agree. This was the worst thing I had ever had to do. The maze was an easy task compared to this. I wanted to hug him and kiss him and go with him, but I had to stay here. I was sobbing as I asked them to leave one more time. This time, they finally did.

As soon as they left, I completely broke down. I kicked and screamed and hollered. I made sure to kick the guy who Minho had fought. I was a complete wreck. When I was finally too exhausted to keep on crying like that, I layed down on the ground and hoped for death. But that didn't happen. Instead, a girl about a year younger than me with curly brown hair came over and put a hand on my shoulder. I looked over at her. She looked fine except for a few scratches and her hair was all matted. "Hey newbie, what happened to you?" she asked."Nothing. Leave me alone," I spat at her. She didn't say anything, but sat and began stroking my shoulder with her hand. Not in a creepy way like most of the Crank girls did when they were trying to hit on me, but in a comforting way. I started to fall asleep. Right before sleep took me, she whispered in my ear, "It's ok, newbie. I can protect you."

When I woke up, she was still there. Thanks to the sleep, my head had cleared a bit. The memories of what had just happened were still haunting me. "Who are you?" I asked. "My name is Vanessa," she responded. "What do you want with me?" I spat. I really shouldn't have, but I did. "I see you're new here and don't know much about the Flare. I thought I would help protect you and keep you safe from the Cranks. You seem like a decent fighter," She said. I scoffed. "I don't need you to protect me." Vanessa rolled her eyes. "Yes, you do. You don't know damn shit about this place and I do. I've been here for a little over three months, and I know how it works. I've taken care of people before. What's your name?" She asked. I don't know why, but I gave into her. "Newt," I told her. "Hello Newt," she said, and then tried to hold my hand. I yanked it away. No one except for Minho was allowed to hold my hand. "No flirting with me. I had- have a boyfriend," I said, not really sure what to think about Minho. I still loved him, but I had just tried to shoot him a few hours ago. "That's ok," she said, "I have- had a girlfriend." I stared at her, and then followed her back to her lane in the bowling alley.

We got into an easy routine. She showed me a secluded part of the Crank Palace where she lived and I joined her. I had a home. She also taught me how to fight the Cranks. My first night, she stood watch for the entire night because apparently I was not trained and strong enough to fight off any attacking Cranks. For a while, I stayed up and talked with her. "Why do you seem to know so little about the Flare?" She asked. "You won't kill me if I tell you?" I responded. "Why would I do that?" She said, laughing a little. It was nice. I hadn't been able to make someone laugh since I was with Minho in the Maze. "You won't really like where I came from. I don't like where I came from," I told her. "Just tell me!" She said in a kind way. I was beginning to think that maybe, I would finally stay safe here. So I told her. "Well, I was with WICKED," I told her. her eyes grew wide. "They sent me into their giant Maze and erased my memory. After we escaped, their shucking Maze, they threw us out into the Scorch and made us wander in the desert for two weeks. They wanted to keep doing testing on us, but me and my friend and my boyfriend broke out. I got separated from my friend and my boyfriend and, well, now I'm here," I told her. I looked up and saw a sad look on her face. "What?" I asked. She shook her head. "I went to WICKED once. After my parents died. I didn't know what to do, so I went there because there was advertisements for a better life." I scoffed. "Better life, yeah right," I interrupted. "No, you don't get it. I was an eleven year old orphan with a nine year old brother and I needed a home. I took my little brother with me through the Flat Trans to the WICKED compound. They let me stay for a little while, but then when I was thirteen I failed a test and since they didn't need me, they sent me back to Denver. My little brother was immune though, so they kept him and he told me that they were planning on sending him into the Maze. I haven't seen him since."

"I'm sorry," I said. It was all I could think to say. "Did you know him?" Vanessa asked. "What was his name?" I asked her back, wondering if I knew him. "His real name was Adrian, but WICKED called him Chuck, I think."

I couldn't believe it. This was Chuck's sister. Chuck, who was so little, and while he annoyed the klunk out of me, we all loved him like a brother. "Yeah, I knew him. He was in the Maze with me," I said, smiling for what felt like the first time in days. It was nice to have a little connection to Chuck. Her eyes went wide. "You knew him?! I can't believe it, where is he, what happened to him?!" She yelled excitedly. I didn't want to break the hard news to her. She seemed so excited to finally hear about her brother again. When my face fell, she said, "Please, tell me. I haven't seen him in two years. I just want to know what happened to him." She was on the verge of tears. "Please tell me," she whispered again.

It was heartbreaking, to let this girl who hadn't seen her one family member that was left find out that he was dead. I had to tell her anyway. I sucked in a breath and said, "He was with us in the maze, and he was the youngest of all of us. He was so brave. He helped a friend of mine solve the Maze so we could get out.. And then they- they" I stuttered over my words. "They- killed him," I finished.

Vanessa burst into tears. I wasn't really sure how to help her, as I was trying not to cry at the memory myself. "No, no, NO ADRIAN! NO WHY HIM?" She turned to face me. "IT ISN'T FAIR," she screamed. "WHY DID HE HAVE TO DIE? WHY HIM?" I began to cry with her. "I don't know," I said, my voice cracking. "Although, I can't picture calling him Adrian," I said through my tears. She gave a watery smile. "I couldn't picture calling him Chuck. It always seemed too strange to me." I thought back to my memories of Chuck. "He was always wondering about his family, and always hoping he would find them some day. I think, in his last moments, he remembered you." I thought it would be right to tell her. She sighed. "You should go to bed," she told me. "It's getting late and you will want strength to learn how to fight the Cranks tomorrow. I'll keep watch." I went to bed feeling safer than I had since sharing a bed with Minho.

I woke up to being shaken violently. "Shuck off," I said. I opened my eyes and saw Vanessa's face near mine. "What did I tell you? Shuck off!" I said again. She rolled her eyes. I didn't mean to be rude, but there was just this itch in my head that caused me to. Her eye rolling made me assume that she had that itch too, and it was something that all Cranks have. It made me realize that I really was a Crank, and it wasn't just something I was imagining.

"Wake up, lazy ass. We have to train," she said. Her words had venom. It was that anger that Cranks have. I hate being a Crank, and I hate being around Cranks. But, Vanessa was going to teach me how to fight them, so there was no use staying in bed.

"Good," she said smiling when I stood up, but her eyes showed anger. "Now, get up, get dressed, and I can braid your hair," she said angrily. I ran a hand through my long, blonde hair. Minho always used to braid it for me when we ran the Maze together, to keep it out of my face. I didn't know how I felt about someone else braiding my hair. It was always something Minho had done. I was still holding onto Minho, and I didn't want to let anyone else do the things he had done. I went to get dressed. When I came back, Vanessa said, "Ok, now I will braid your hair." I gave her the evil eye. "No, you won't," I told her, raising my voice slightly. "Why not?" She asked angrily. "You just can't!" I yelled, my voice cracking. I didn't want to tell her about Minho just yet. "WHY NOT?" She asked, yelling now. "YOU JUST CAN'T!" I yelled back at her. "JUST TELL ME WHY I CAN'T BRAID YOUR HAIR, GODDAMN IT!" she practically screamed. "BECAUSE HE DID IT!" I screamed back at her. She stared at me. Then she smiled, a real smile. "Who's he?" she asked, knowingly.

I hadn't meant to slip up and mention Minho. It slipped out. He was always on my mind, so it was only a matter of time before she found out about him. "Remember when we first met, and I told you that I have a boyfriend?" I asked. She nodded. "He would braid my hair. He came to save me from this place. He said that he would take me away with him. And I screamed at him. I told him to leave. Hell, I even tried to shoot him. I wasn't thinking straight thanks to the buggin Flare. You met me right after that. So that's why you can't braid my hair." I said, crying slightly.

She put a hand on my shoulder. "If it makes you feel any better, I had a girlfriend who died of the Flare a few weeks ago. I loved her, but nothing lasts forever. That's why I started helping you. I wanted to take care of someone again," she said, crying a bit too. "May I ask what his name was?" I smiled, just thinking about him. "His name is Minho." She smiled. "You don't have to put your hair up. We will make do."

She trained me how to fight the Cranks. I learned how to kick, punch, and use the few weapons we had. After a while, I felt like I could probably take on the Cranks. For the next couple of weeks, that was what we did. She would teach me how to take on the Cranks and we would keep each other safe. We became close friends. She was sarcastic funny, and we looked out for each other. I told her about Chuck in the Maze and she told me about Chuck as a little kid. She also knew who me and Minho were before the Maze and told me stories about us. Apparently we had been dating before the Maze and we spent all of our time together even as little kids. I had a reason to fight back against the Cranks.

We did have our problems. As the days went on, we both got even closer to passing the Gone. We were losing it. I always had that bloody shucking itch at the back of my head. We started fighting more and more.

"YOU'RE STUPID LIMP!" she screamed one day, around two weeks after we teamed up against the other Cranks. "YOU CAN'T KICK RIGHT, YOU CAN'T RUN, YOU'RE PATHETIC!" Her Flare symptoms were acting up, and in that moment I knew she would be passing the Gone soon. I knew I would be, too. "IT'S NOT MY BLOODY FAULT!" I yelled back. "YES, IT IS! YOU'RE FUCKING TERRIBLE, YOU WOULD DIE IF THE CRANKS ATTACKED YOU ALONE! YOU'RE SO PATHETIC, YOU ALWAYS NEED MY HELP! I HATE YOU!" she screamed. "I CAN'T STAND YOU! I HATE YOU!" I screamed back. I was going to pass the Gone soon, and there was nothing I could do to stop it. I didn't mean any of the things I was saying, but once again, it was the itch at the back of my head that wouldn't leave me alone. When I told her I hated her, she punched me across the face. She used all of that Flare anger, and socked me across the face. Then she smiled. It wasn't a friendly or genuine smile like she had when we met. It was creepy smile, like the ones the other Cranks had. I didn't know what to think. She circled around me, tracing my jawline with her fingers. "I could kill you easily, you know," she whispered in my ear. It was almost seductive, the way she said it. I was terrified. "Kill you, boil you, then eat you. There's nothing stopping me," she whispered in my other ear. I reached out and pushed her away. "Baby, you don't have to be like that," she said, still whispering in that creepy, almost seductive way. "I told you, I have a boyfriend," I said with as much anger as I could. And believe me, the Flare made me sound pretty damn terrifying. "You said it yourself, you're never going to see him again," she continued whispering. "Don't say that," I spat. Hearing someone else saying it made it real. "I should eat you, right now. Boil you, slice you up, and feast on your meat," she growled. It was terrifying. "You have a girlfriend," I growled back. That's what got her to back off. She left with a stifled sob.

I gave both of us some time to cool down before I went looking for her later that night. She was in one of the few places where other Cranks didn't go. It was an old car behind the Crank Palace. She had been living in it for a while. There was an old parking lot behind the Crank Palace with a bunch of cars that only God knows how long they have been there for. She had an old sports car and I had a minivan. I picked the minivan because there was enough room for me to sleep comfortably in it. She thought the sports car looked cool and she was small enough to sleep comfortably in it.

When I found Vanessa, she was crying. She was wearing an old, tattered, black and white dress. Her hair looked like she had run her fingers through it, but was still a mess from the Flare and having no way to brush it. Somehow, she had gotten eyeshadow of some sort and put it around her eyes and on her eyelashes. She looked almost beautiful. Tragically beautiful. Hauntingly beautiful. Terrifying somehow. Reminding me that there was no real beauty left in this world, just people trying to pretend. She was looking at herself in the rearview mirror of the car. I stopped walking when I reached the trunk of the car and leaned on it. She must have heard me coming, because she spoke. "I just wanted to be pretty again. One last time," she said, tears forming in her eyes. "You look fine," I told her. She either didn't hear it or she ignored it. "I was going to wear this for a school dance a few months ago. I was going to go with Kyra, my girlfriend. Two nights before the dance, she was infected with the Flare, so I didn't go. I was diagnosed the next week. She died two months later. Why am I telling you this?" She was crying. "Maybe because, despite what you said earlier, you still trust me," I suggested. "You know that was the Flare speaking. I didn't mean any of that," she whispered. "I know," I responded. "I even put car grease on my eyes to make myself look pretty. I'm so shallow," she said, beginning to cry. _So that's what the eyeshadow was,_ I thought. "Won't that blind you?" I asked. "I'm not going to last long enough for that to happen," she whispered. "Why didn't you leave? You could have left when your boyfriend came to get you. Goddamn it, why did you stay?" I sucked in a breath. "I really don't know-" I began. Suddenly, she turned around and wrapped her arms around the back of my neck. Then she kissed me.

I had never been kissed by someone other that Minho that I can remember. It was different. Not necessarily bad, but I wanted only Minho to be able to kiss me. I wasn't really sure what to do, so I put my hands on her shoulders. I wasn't kissing her back, but I wasn't not kissing her back either. I was just sort of awkwardly standing there while she kissed me. Eventually, I realized that _someone is kissing me and it was not Minho_ and I lightly pushed on her shoulders. "You're not- You're not Minho," I muttered. "Kyra," she muttered back, and then ran off. It was the last time I saw her alive.

"Vanessa!" I yelled, and ran after her, hoping to be able to catch up to her. My limp didn't help. As I was about to reach the end of the parking lot, I crashed into something warm, something muscular, something tall, something _alive._ I looked up to see what it was. I recognised him immediately. "Minho?" I asked, suddenly all traces of Vanessa forgotten. "Newt?" he asked.

It was him. He was there. Minho, my love, my friend, my boyfriend. He looked like a god standing above me with his hair still spiked perfectly and that dazzling smile he only showed to me. He was here, standing over me. "Minho!" I said again, overjoyed at finally being able to see him again. "Newt!" he cried, wrapping his arms around me. "God, I never thought I would see you again!" he muttered into my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around him and pulled him in tighter. "I thought I'd lost you," he whispered into my ear. Then we were kissing. It was better than my last kiss, it was better than any kiss I had ever had. This was _Minho,_ and he was here, _right now, with me._ "Minho," I whimpered between kisses. When we finally broke apart, I asked him, "What are you doing here? They didn't send you here, did they?" He pressed his forehead against mine and smiled. "No, they didn't. Thomas is off doing something and I had to see you. I had to break you out of that prison or rot with you in it if you refused to come again. That last meeting couldn't be our last time together."

I could hardly believe his words. He had risked his life to come save me. I leaned in and kissed him again, even more passionately. "Is there a place a little more private?" he asked. Typical Minho, always wanting to be alone with me. I giggled and nodded and lead him back to that old minivan, still kissing him. "Come in here," I whispered into his ear. I layed down on the shotgun seat and he spread out on top of me. We were still kissing. His tongue slipped into my mouth and I was in pure heaven. My fingers were in his hair and his hands were pushing my shirt up. "Just take it off," I almost moaned. He rucked it up my chest and over my head. I saw him look down at me and I almost wanted to put the shirt back on out of shame. The Flare leaves you with a bunch of scratches and sores all over your body, and I was no exception. He leaned down and muttered against my skin, "I wish the only marks left on you were the hickeys I make." I couldn't help but let out a breathless laugh. "Way to ruin the moment. You can still leave a few hickeys if you want," I muttered back."Don't worry, you're still sexy as hell," he whispered. I tore his shirt off of him and said "Not as sexy as you." We both laughed and he started kissing all of the sores on my chest.

When he had kissed every sore on my body, he looked into my eyes. "I love you so much," he whispered huskily. "So much." I responded by kissing him on the lips again quickly. "I love you, too." I reached to the side of the seat and found the lever to recline the seat. The back of the seat went flying back, taking us with it. We were laying down with him on top of me. He ran his fingers through my hair and kissed my forehead. My hands began to drop to his waistband. He pulled back and asked, "Are you sure?" I nodded. "You're sick," he said. "I don't care. I'm not going to last much longer. I want our last night together to be special," I muttered back. "Ok," he whispered back, and began to push my pants down. Could we have a little privacy, please?

After it was all over, I rolled over on top of him and started to doze off. I didn't want to, and I wanted to spend our last night together awake, but the Flare exhausts you. His arms around me were loving and warm, and I couldn't stay awake. I fell asleep with his arms wrapped around my naked torso.

The Flare can give you nightmares. And even though Minho's arms were around me, they still came. I couldn't remember exactly what it was about, but I knew it was terrifying. I think it had something to do with Minho and Vanessa as Cranks who were past the Gone and they were attacking me. I had experience with nightmares from the time I tried to kill myself, but that didn't mean I knew how to deal with them. I woke up to Minho rubbing my back and whispering sweet nothings into my ear. Like he did when I had nightmares back in the Maze. When I opened my eyes, the hallucinations came. Once you are past the Gone, you begin to hallucinate. This was it for me, I was dying. When I opened my eyes, I saw the van we were in was on fire. "Minho, come on, we have to get out of here," I yelled into his ear, poor shank. "The place is on fire!" He shook his head and continued stroking my back and kissing my forehead. I began crying hysterically. "Min, we have to go, RIGHT NOW!" I screamed. "Shhh, you're ok, there's no fire, you're ok, I love you, you're ok, you're safe, I love you, shhh," he continued whispering. Eventually, the hallucinations went away, but the fact that I was nearing the end of my life did not.

He continued holding me for the rest of the night. I loved how he was holding me and looking out for me, but I didn't want him to be there when I died. I knew I wasn't going to last much longer than a week, and my sanity would be slipping away. I was also terrified that I was going to hurt him. I knew what the Flare could make me do, having seen it myself in the Crank Palace. I didn't want Minho to see me like that. I wanted his memories of me to be decent memories. I knew he had seen me after trying to kill myself, but that was different. I was still myself. This person I was becoming, it wasn't me. It was a hellish version of me, and I didn't want him to see me like that. I had to somehow leave him. It would be the hardest thing I could ever do.

To take my mind off of the inevitable task I would have to do, I leaned down and kissed him. He kissed back and his tongue slipped into my mouth. He broke the kiss and began kissing down my neck and rubbing his arms up and down my sides. The kissing grew more and more passionate and he flipped us over, repeating what had happened earlier that night.

After having sex twice in one night, we were both pretty exhausted. Especially me since I'm assuming sex can't be that good for a person with the Flare. He rolled me back on top of him, claiming that I would be his blanket or some klunk like that. I didn't really mind keeping him warm since his arms were still around me. He eventually fell asleep, but I forced myself to stay awake. I slithered out of his strong embrace and whimpered a bit at the loss. I had to give his mouth a quick peck just because I still loved him. I opened the glove box of the minivan and dug around until I found a piece of paper and a pen left by the previous owners. I wrote Minho a note saying : _I'm sorry I left you. I love you so much, more than you could ever know. I had to leave you because I know I'm going to die soon. I wish you the best. Don't be afraid to love someone else if the opportunity comes. I love you so much. Be careful, don't die on me. Goodbye Minho._

I was crying by the time I finished writing the note, which took way longer than it should have. It was time for me to leave and never come back. It was time for me to say goodbye. I didn't think I could do it. I was glad Minho found me, so my last memory of him wouldn't be me threatening to shoot him. I never expected it could be that hard.

I had to put on my clothes and leave. I found all of my clothes, but I really didn't want to put them back on. Putting them back on meant I had to leave. Leaving meant I would never see Minho again. I was crying as quietly as I could so I wouldn't bloody wake Minho. I climbed over Minho as discreetly as I could, which required some serious flexibility since my clothes had been haphazardly thrown about the minivan as Minho stripped them off of me. Sorry, I'm sure that was way too much bloody tmi, but it was reminding me of Min, so I really don't care. I put my shirt on, but I really wanted to have something of Minho's, to remind me of him when the insanity started kicking in. I decided to steal Min's undershirt, just so I could feel closer to him. It smelled like him. I left my undershirt for him, so he would have something of mine and because I had no use for mine since I was wearing his. I put the rest of my clothes on.

Once I had my clothes on, it was time for me to leave. I almost didn't do it. I had to, but I practically couldn't do it. I was still crying as softly as I could. Thankfully, Minho was still asleep. If he had been awake, I think this daunting task would have been impossible. I would never be able to leave him, and not just because he would be holding me back. I pressed a long kiss to his forehead, then to both of his cheeks, and then to his mouth. I only stopped when he began to stir. I couldn't have him waking up on me. I pulled away quickly and opened the door to the van. I almost didn't do it. I closed the car door as quietly as possible and prayed to every god I could remember that he wouldn't wake up. I took one last glance at his sleeping form and turned around. For good.

Since there was no more fear of waking him up, I began crying freely. Huge, racking sobs tore their way out of my chest as I ran from that bloody minivan that still had him sleeping in it. I kept running blindly as tears fell down my face until I tripped over something. Something hard, and fleshy. I almost thought I had run into Minho again. I looked down to see what it was. I screamed. It was Vanessa, but she was dead. The beautiful, wonderful girl who kept me from being killed by Cranks so many times was dead and I couldn't save her. I sat down and put her head on my lap and began stroking her hair. Her body had been picked at by Cranks, but her face was peaceful. It made me realize that she was no longer in pain, but she was with Chuck now. And I would be with both of them soon before long. I stopped crying, but now the itch in the back of my brain had grown. It wasn't just an itch anymore, it was a fire. I found some flowers growing on the side of the road, and put them over her body. They may not have been flowers; they may have been a thornbush or maybe even just a clump of dirt, but how would my diseased brain know the difference? I walked away to try to find some more flowers, or thornbushes, or clumps of dirt. And then, Tommy showed up. I believe the lovely James Dashner told you what happened from here, didn't he?

(A/N: Hey gus! Sorry it took so long to get this out and it went downhill so fast. I had midterms, so that slowed me down a bit. I have a ton of ideas on how to continue this, so if you want to see them, leave a review and let me know! Or if you want to let me know what you thought of this than you can also leave a review for that. Thanks for reading!)


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